Garment or ironing press



Jan. 13, 1931.

J. c. LEDBETTER 1,788,530

GARMENT OR IRONING PRESS Original Filed July 20, 1926 Patented Jan. 131931 A UNITED STATES PATENT orf-"ICEl JAMES CAMRGD LEDBETTER, OE NEW"YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB. T THE PROSPEBITY, COMPANY, INC., OF SYRCUSE, NEWYORK, A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK GARE/[ENT 0R IRONING PRESS Applicationled July 20, 1926, Serial No. 123,612. Renewed October 16, 1823.

This invention relates to pressing machines and more particularly tosteam power presses for laundry work and garment pressing work.

An object of the invention is to produce an improved press, for examplea cu' and neck band press construction involving simple power producingmechanism by which high jaw compression on the work is attained by useof steam to operate the power or motor means.

A further object of the invention is to produce an improved cu and neckband laundry ironer wherein the motor means as for example an improveddisk diaphragm is incorporated with the jaw structure.

The accompanying drawing illustrates an example of the pressconstruction and it is to be understood that changes in structure andoperation may be resorted to without departing from the principle of theinvention. The invention is merely illustrated in connection with a cuiand neck band type press, but any shape press jaw may be used..

Figure 1 shows a side view of the press in open position. A,

Figure 2 shows a fragmentary front view of the press with the power jawin section as taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 to illustrate theheating chamber and motor means by which high jaw compression isattained.4

Figure 3 is an underneath view of the power jaw removed from the frameof the machine and illustrates a bottom plan View of the disk diaphragmmounted thereunder.

Referring now to the drawings there is shown a stationary frame or legs10 on the upper end of which is made a circular up- 'standing flange inthe form' of a short cylinv der 11 together with an integral frame web12 joining together the top of the frame legs. The flange 11 constitutesa'cylinder wall in which a power jaw sleeve undergoes slight relativehigh power movement. Ears 13 may be cast integral on the frame 10ifdesired by which to mount and hold stationary a steam lead and steamreturn pipe as later referred to. p

A vertically movable power jaw orvpress 16. A cylindrical sleeve 17depends integrally from the jaw andl from an integral sleeve liead 14.The sleeve 17 slidably fits into the cylinder 11 and works up and downtherein under steam pressure as will be described. Steam lead and returnpipes 18 and 19l are mounted in the frame ears 13. and the 'upper endsof these pipes project into the jaw 15 and connect with the heatingchamber 16. Stuffing box nuts 20 are screw threaded into the jaw 15 toproduce a steam tight sliding fit between the pipes 18 and 19 and withthe jaw, and the. stung nuts 20 permit the jaw 15 to slide relatively upand down on the" pipes 18 and 19 which are stationary. Through the pipes18 and 19 steam is lead to and from the jaw heating chamber 16 to raisethe temperature thereof to suitable ironing heat.

A disk diaphragm 22 has its periphery anchored and sealed against ashoulderv 23 by a threaded ring 28 within the sleeve 17 of the power jawand the center of the diaphragm 1s anchored under a washer 24 sealed inby a nut 25 thereby rigidly mounting the center; of the flexiblediaphragm on a stationary boss 26 integral with the frame web 12. Thisconstruction afords a' closed steam chamber 27 defined by the sleevey17, by the fiexible diaphragm 22, and the sleeve head 14.

A steam pressure feed pipe 30 is rigidly mounted in the frame web 12 bythe nut 25 aforesaid and the upper end of the pipe 3Q therefore opensdirectly into the steam expansion chamber 27 above the corrugatedHexible diaphragm disk 22. A discharge or exhaust valve31 is Aincludedin the pipe l30 to permit the discharge and the exhaust of steam toatmosphere from the steam expansion chamber 27. This valve may berotated b a valve arm 32 connected with a link 33 an to a pedal 34 ifdesired. f

A throttle or inlet steam valve 36 is also included in the pipe 30 bywhich steam is automatica-lly turned into the expansion chamclosed valveplunger 37 whichis automatical- 10c ly` depressed `as later seen whenthe press is' closed in order to permit flow of steam into the expansionchamber 27 thereby starting jaw compression.

A press head 39 is carried on the upper end of a swinging press lever orupright 40 which is pivoted in the frame under the press jaw at 41 andwhich may be integrally made with a pedal 42. By depressing the pedal 42the press is closed, that is to say the press jaws 39 and 15 are swunginto alignment. The throttle valve trip 43 is mounted on the press lever40 in alignment with the throttle valve stem 37 so that the throttlevalve 36 is opened 'by the trip 43 simultaneously with the closing ofthe press head 39.

A head closing handle 43 is ordinarily provided on the press lever 40 sothat the press may be closed manually or by pedal '42, or by both suchmeans. After the cuil' and neck band or other work is spread upon thebuck 15, the head 39 is swung forwardly over the work. Sufficientclearance is permitted be- 17 within the cylinder 11, the diaphragm 22Cal flexing at the same time.

Thus high jaw compression is caused against the press head 29 therebypressing the work in the press. As long as the throttle valve 36 is heldopen, the compression continues. The operator by depressing the exhaustvalve control pedal/34, swings the valve arm 32.to close the steam feedpipe 30 and thereby opens an exhaust pipe 46 which permits exhaust ofsteam from the expansion chamber 27 outwardly to atmosphere. Theflexibility of the diaphragm together with the weight of the jaw 15causes the power jaw to drop downwardly thus producing clearance betweenthe press head 39 and buck whereupon the press may open. The openingmovement of the lever 40 causes the throttle valve 36 to automaticallyclose and by removal of vhis foot from the pedal 34, the operator causesthe exhaust valve 31 to close which now opens the pipe 30. A tensionspring 47 pulls upwardlyon the pedal 34 to continuously close theexhaust valve so that the press is in readiness for the next operation.

This power operated cuii' and neck band pre'ss possesses the advantageof having its motor means locateddirectly adjacent the movable jawthereby simplifying the structure. The press uses the same steam toproduce compression as is used toheat the press.

- Inasmuch as the diaphragm 22 hermetically seals in the expansionchamber 27, there can occur no lealdng of water by reason of steamcondensation because the condensate runs back through the pipe 30 anddoes not leak onto the ioor. l v

While V-shaped press jaws are shown, it is apparent thatlat-surfacepress jaws for laundry ironing work or for garment pressing operationsmay be used. Likewise it is obvious that the'motor means 22 under thebuck to produce high compression may be used with any type of headswinging mechanism and the upright swingable arm 40 may be dis# placedwith any other suitable press head operating means.

It is to be noted that the upright 40is pivoted at 41 below the pressjaws and thus the weight of the press head is swingable back and forthover the buck 15 and over the pivot 41 and therefore no counter wei htis needed to balance the head. It is sign' cant that the upright 40reaches forwardly at 43 to mount the head 39 and handle 43 and on itslower end reaches forwardly to form the head opening and closing pedal42. In other words the upright-head support 40 is placed to the rear othe press jaws and bends at each end past the press jaws thus formingextensions which reach toward-the front of the press, and the motormeans 22 for producing high jaw compression is disposed between the twoforwardly reaching extensions. This arrangement provides a compact andnovel press construe'- tion.

What I claim is:

1. A pressing machine comprising, a frame, a cylinder on the frame, apress jaw, a sleeve on the press jaw slidably disposed in the cylinderof the `frame, a diaphragm disk disposed between the cylinder and sleeveand sealed to one of the parts, means for applying iuid pressure ononeside of the diaphragm to reciprocate the sleeve, and a press headcooperating with the press jaw.

2. A press comprising, a frame, an open ended cylinder made on the upperend thereof, a sleeve slidably confined in the cylinder, a press jawcarried on the upper end of thea sleeve, a press head cooperating withthe jaw, a diaphragm sealed inside and to the sleeve, and a fluidpressure pipe passing through the diaphragm. Y

' 3. A press comprising, a press head, a. press buck cooperatingtherewith, a sleeve depending from the press buck, a shoulder formedinside the sleeve, a flat disc diaphragm sealed on the shoulder therebyforming an ex'pansion phragm in the sleeve, a ring sealing the outeredge of the diaphragm onto the sleeve, means sealingthe center of thediaphragm onto the frame, and a steam pipe passing through the means andthrough the diaphragm.

5. A press comprising, a cooperating head and buck, a sleeve dependingfrom the buck, a shoulder formed inside the sleeve, a iat disk diaphragmhaving its outer edge sealed on the shoulder, a frame on which the'sleeve and buck movably rests, and a steam pi e projecting through thecenter of the diap ragm.

6. A press comprising, a cooperating head and buck, a sleeve dependingfrom the buck, a shoulder formed inside the sleeve, a iiat disk diaphram having its outer edge sealed on the shouder, a frame, an upstandngange p made on the frame into which the sleeve is 4 press jaws,operating means connected with one jaw to open and close the press,motor means connected with a jaw to producey pressure, the jaw connectedwith the motor means being provided with a heating chamber, a steam pipedisposed on each side of the motor means and connected with the heatingchamber, and a movable joint cooperating with and included in each pipewhereby the motor actuated jaw having the heating chamber may move inrelation to the frame.

8. In a press, a frame including a horizontal cross web, a lbuck mountedmovably above the web, a Huid-pressure diaphragm attached to the crossWeb and to the buck including means producing a fluid-expansion chamberbetween the diaphragm and buck, a {luidpressure-supply pipe extendingthru the web and thru the diaphragm and being connected with thechamber, a press head mounted above the buck, and operating meansconnected with the head to open and close the press.

l9. In a press, a frame including a horizontal cross web, a buck mountedmovably above the web, a fluid-pressure diaphragm attached to the crossweb and to the buck including means producing a fluid-expansion chamberbetween the diaphragm and buck, a uidpressure-supply pipe extending thruthe web and thru the diaphragm and being connected with the chamber, athrottle valve mounted in the pipe and means holding said valve closed,a press head mounted above the buck, an upright pivoted under the jawsand attached to the head to open and close the press, and said uprightbeing adapted to engage and automatically open the throttle valve whenthe press closes.

10. In a press, a frame and a cooperating press head and buck both ofwhich are movable in relation to the. frame and to each other,

In testimony whereof I a x my signature. JAMES CAMROD LEDBETTER.

